Man arrested in hunt for stabbed teenage girls' attacker

Detectives investigating the stabbing of three teenage girls today arrested an 18-year-old man.

Officers detained the man in Chertsey, Surrey, in the early hours of this morning.

Kirsty Edwards, 17, Charlotte Teague, 14, and Sophie Hyne, 15, suffered serious injuries when they were stabbed as they got off the bus in what police called a "sustained and frenzied attack" in Bridport, Dorset, last Wednesday.

A Dorset Police spokesman said the man, who is from Bridport, was helping detectives with their inquiries.

Relatives of the three girls, who were stabbed

after they got off a bus, made an emotional plea yesterday for help in catching their attacker.

The girls were stabbed repeatedly by a stranger as they got off the bus after an argument with the man. All suffered puncture wounds.

They remain in a stable condition in hospital and are making good progress.

Kirsty was on holiday from Staffordshire, visiting Sophie and Charlotte, who are both from Bridport.

They had been to an amusement arcade at the seaside in nearby Weymouth before catching the No 31 bus home.

They struck up a conversation on board the packed bus with a man in his early 20s and some kind of dispute followed, police said.

Stabbed repeatedly

The man then followed the girls off the bus in East Street in the market town and repeatedly stabbed them.

Shocked passers-by had to use their hands and towels to stem the blood from the terrified teenagers.

Police released a 20-year-old Bridport man without charge on Friday after he was arrested in